Proposed appointment of Parish Warden. - 2008/06/27 15:21I understand from a letter in the Telegraph and Argus of the 26th of June that the council proposes to appoint a Parish Warden at a salary of £10,000 P.a.I have some questions about this, which I hope you can answer, and about the headcams recently purchased by the Council for the Baildon NPT.I also have a suggestion re the Parish Warden which may save Baildon residents some money. Firstly re the Warden.As I thought that the only paid official to be appointed to the Council was the Parish Clerk, so by what authority do the Council propose to make this appointment? Secondly,if such an appintment is made, where will the Warden derive any powers to demand the names and addresses of any offender or person behaving in an anti-social or disorderly manner. As I am a retired Police Officer of some 26 years regular service, perhaps I may suggest an alternative.On application from parish and Town Councils , the Kent Constabulary appoint Special Constables to be designated Parish Special Constables with responsibility for their own town or area, and providing an albeit part time officer with full police powers for the community in question.Could not an approach to the Police be made as to the feasibility of such an appointment? It would cost the police little as Special Constables are additional to the Divisional strength rather than part of it, and the only expense likely to be incurred by the Council would be the payment of the officer's out of Pocket expenses. As to the head cams. What guarantee is there that these will be used only by the Baildon NPT. I suggest none,because as these have been gifted to the Police by the Council the Police have the right to use them where they think fit, and quite rightly could and would do so if there was to be a large operation or serious incident either in this Division, or anywhere in the Force area. Surely, the appropriate source of funding for these would have been the police precept, rather than using the parish's slender resources? Subitted for your consideration and comment. Alan Walsh.
Post edited by: redcap, at: 2008/06/27 15:27
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The Parish Council are aware of the letter in the Telegraph and Argus and have responded to it and also directly to Rob Higgie who sent a longer article to the Parish Council.
I am not sure why you would think that the Parish Council can not be an employer. Town and Parish Councils employ many people for a wide range of duties.
As yet the Parish Council have not decided to appoint a Warden, though a proposal to do so may well be the next stage in the process. A vote at that time, whether "Yes" or "No", will be an example of the Parish Council doing its job in making decisions for the benefit of Baildon.
Over several months we have been carefully considering and accepting the costs, risks, benefits, responsibilities and job description for a Warden. We have also had talks with other areas that employ Wardens. The work we see a Baildon Warden doing would not fall within the remit of a PCSO and as far as I am aware no one has ever suggested that the Warden would be involved in taking names and addresses or have the level of contact with anti social behaviour you seem to suggest. We see the Warden as being the eyes and ears of the Parish Council with a liaison role involving local schools, police, Bradford Council, local businesses and other organisations with the intention of improving the environment in Baildon by targeting litter, fly posting, dog fouling etc. An example would be that the Warden will monitor and give feedback on the work needed on our footpaths and ginnels to improve their usefulness and cleanliness to help us achieve the goals to be set within our proposed Travel Plan.
As you would expect our discussions have covered many things a Warden could do, including picking up litter (but never dog poo) however the job description that has been agreed does not include picking up litter.
We are allowing the Baildon Neighbourhood Policing Team to use the headcams owned by the Parish Council as per a written agreement that requires the Police to report to the Parish Council on a regular basis in the same way that we had reports on the progress of project Kline. This oroject, that the Parish Council funded, was felt to be a great success. The youths involved, instead of being ignored, have been interviewed, supported, and where necessary referred to other agencies. The results have been very good, the rate of re-offending, or the incidence of trouble, has been significantly reduced and the Police are to continue with similar interviews funded by themselves. If the headcams were totally in the control of the Police then they would, justifiably, be at liberty to use them where they would give the most benefit to suit their district wide priorities. Because of a lot of hard work put in by the Police, and other organisations, Baildon is a very safe place to live when compared with other areas, but there is always room for improvement. The Parish Council, in buying the headcams, have been able to provide equipment that will be used for the benefit of Baildon residents and businesses so that we can keep Baildon a safe place. It is also intended that the visibility of this equipment will contribute to a reduction in people's fear of crime.
Paul Marfell Chair Baildon Parish Council
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